Chaos Theory: Hurrying to finish The Secret World's Halloween events

Stop me if you heard this before: Halloween in The Secret World ROCKS! I know, I'm preaching to the choir, right? There just isn't any other game that really comes close to sharing the spirit of the holiday like the one that is perpetually steeped in it. And when Halloween itself finally comes around, you actually have good reason to settle in after those real-life activities and enjoy more ghostly goodness in game. Heck, you can even get gussied up in some elaborate costumes that can include a working chainsaw. Who gets that in meatspace?

Last year, however, I went through the agony of living with the fact that circumstances prevented me from experiencing everything the holiday events offered. It was torture seeing that incomplete quest chain and not having a furry little void cat to console me! I want to save you all from the same kind of pain and regret, so here is a quick guide to get you on the path to completing all the festivities before they dissipate into the night on November 11th.

If you missed out on completing last year's quests or gathering all the lore as I did, I've got good news: You've got a second chance! That means all new players who weren't even around last October can also get the same experience (and goodies, like that cool pet). I am ever grateful that Funcom is giving this event an encore. But just because it happened this year doesn't guarantee that the same thing will happen next, so get in and get it done while the getting's good!

First off, you have the main investigative quest chain that begins with The Meowling. This starts with a call when you log in from Madam Roget in Kingsmouth (or you can visit her directly if you didn't get it), who wants you to investigate why the cats and ravens are all acting strange. When you visit her, be sure you look at both the picture and the cat collar on the desk. This story gives you more insight into what happened to Deputy Andy's poor little kittens. And you end up in a crypt. What better way to spend Halloween, right?

Completing this mission automatically starts Crossing the Black Path. My big hint here is pay attention to the password hint and pay attention to your surroundings -- that should get you through this one. The end of this mission opens up the Cat God Dungeon and gives you The Cat God mission. Grab some friends and go in and skin that cat; when you succeed, you get a cool vanity pet: the void cat.

I'll note here that one new addition for 2013 is the Nightmare Mode version of that dungeon. The mission is Revenge of the Cat God. In NM, accessible every six hours by those who have defeated the Gatekeeper, the boss has a chance of dropping 10.1 weapons and a purple cat pet. Hopefully this will return so that folks who really want the pet but can't do NM yet will have a chance in 2014. You can also redo the regular version, Return of the Cat God, every three hours.

Missing lore is also a very painful thing for me, as there is story in them thar lore pieces! Luckily, the Samhain 2012 set can be collected this year along with the Samhain 2013 set. If you still want to find them all on your own, skip this section. If you follow the mission series for each year, it will basically run you right past every single lore piece. But if time is running out, you can use these coordinates to find them all before they disappear. Just realize that you can't get them all if you don't also do the mission series!

Samhain 2012:

• #1 -- London (130, 157)

• #2 -- Blue Mountain (Inside the Devore Crypt); available only during The Meowling mission

• #3 -- The Cat God Dungeon (on the path); available only during The Cat God mission

• #4 -- Kingsmouth (300, 504)

• #5 -- Kingsmouth (703, 420)

Samhain 2013:

• #1 -- Savage Coast (497, 896)

• #2 -- Savage Coast (393, 66)

• #3 -- Blue Mountain (348, 663)

• #4 -- Blue Mountain (803, 913); available only during The Organ Smugglers mission!

• #5 -- Blue Mountain (82, 605)

• #6 -- Kingsmouth (373, 745)

• #7 --Blue Mountain (888, 562)

• #8 -- Kingsmouth (257, 122)

• #9 -- Kingsmouth (19, 846)

• #10 -- Savage Coast (238,238); available only during The Death of Dr. Armitage mission

• #11 -- In Blue Mountain (374, 938)

Just playing catch-up on last year's events won't get you through the whole shebang of Halloween goodness. In fact, if you stopped there, you'd really be missing out! This year introduced a new mission, Spooky Stories of Solomon Island. You know you've wanted to learn more about this creepy little new England Island, and now you can get just that. But be forewarned; there are some gruesome images in these quests.

You might have run across the new books around the island already (did you notice them?) and even interacted with the pumpkin notes near Deputy Andy, but you can't read the stories or do the related missions -- and get the achievements and rewards -- until after you get the Spooky Stories mission. So head to the treehouse hideout of the League of Monster Slayers in Savage Coast located in the upper middle of the map, grab the mission (and don't forget the lore there!), then head out. There are 10 stories in all scattered about that you have to collect; after completing each mission, you get a page reward that will be bound together in a book to keep at the very end. In other words, don't toss those pages. An important note: Although the 10 side missions can be taken again after an 18-hour cool-down, the Spooky Stories compilation mission cannot.

Before I direct you to all the stories, let me offer this fun bit of advice: Don't see death as a bad thing. No, seriously! If you stay alive though all the missions, you are going to miss some fun little details. Kudos to Funcom here. You can see what I am talking about as I run through a couple of the missions in a recent livestream (skip it and the text below if you don't want spoilers, but remember, time is running short!):

Now for the list of page missions. You might want to have friends along for many of these, and you definitely want folks for one as you need a group to succeed. All books can be found at prominent places players have visited in their adventures.

Kingsmouth has half of the missions: The Hiker and The Ghost of Jack-o-Lantern are both located at the Sheriff's office, The Gypsy Curse is in The Raven's Knock, The Confession of Ellis Hill is near Ellis Hill's grave, and The Death of Dr. Armitage is in the skate park.

The Ghost of Jack-o-Lantern is one that you need a full group of five to complete, although you can also get some hits in on Jack when another group is fighting to get credit if something went wrong your first time around. For this quest you can also summon Jack of the Lantern, called Super Jack by players, instead of the regular one for more more XP and a better reward. Additionally, anyone who helps kill Super Jack gets the special mission reward, not just those who completed the ritual. And just like the Guardian events, you can kill as many Super Jacks as you want without a cool-down (very handy if you want all seven clothing items); the kill will give you the mission then auto-update it. Just make sure you have a side mission slot free to avoid losing your chance to get the mission.

Moving along to Savage Coast, you'll find two more missions. The Rogue Groundskeeper is in the Innsmouth Academy library, and The Hermit is at Red's Bait and Tackle.

Blue Mountain is home to the last three stories. What is Halloween without a trip to the Franklin Mansion, right? So head there for The Lantern Man. Then you can stop at the Orochi camp and nab The Phantom Email (more Tyler Freeborn, woot!). The last mission, The Organ Smugglers, is right in the CDC camp.

Once you collect all the pages, head back to the treehouse, click on the book, then return the whole kit-and-kaboodle to Danny Dufresne at the skate park. Viola! You now have a spooky book to read all year around! And a new t-shirt. if you run any any troubles, you can join the special event chat channel to ask for help or hints or find groups; just type in /chat join Halloween.

Although TSW players are seen in quite a variety of outfits anyway (thanks to the awesome clothing system that's not connected to gear), Halloween is a time that some go all out, coming up with elaborate costumes to wear as they adventure. It was fun checking out all the various outfits folks sported on during the event and especially on All Hallow's Eve.

There are definitely some fun sets and a ton of separates available in the store, but there are just as many different pieces you can collect throughout the year just by playing that will enable you to build a unique ensemble. Personally, I went for a creepy Scarred Leatherface mask with a Magneton helmet paired with a set of fatigues, all gathered as rewards. But I will admit, the prisoner and pirate sets from the store were definitely considered. I have a whole year to plan for next year's outfit.

After enjoying all of this, you might wonder how the team plans to top next year's celebration. It is already in the works! While discussing the virtual reality of the scenarios during my Issue #8 tour, Creative Director Joel Bylos alluded to a connection between the two and said, "Our Halloween next year is going to be amazing! I wrote it for this year, but we didn't get done in enough time with what we had [for Issue #8]. It will be fun."

I already can't wait!

Conspiracies, paranoia, secrets, and chaos -- the breakfast of champions! Feast on a bowlful with MJ and Justin every Monday as they infiltrate The Secret World to bring you the latest word on the streets of Gaia in Chaos Theory. Heard some juicy whispers or have a few leads you want followed? Send them to mj@massively.com or justin@massively.com and they'll jump on the case!